"Capitol Betrayal" - читать интересную книгу автора (Bernhardt William)

4

C hristina made her way through the front door of the offices of Kincaid amp; McCall on C Street. They were not as plush as the old digs at Warren Place in Tulsa, but arguably the location was better. Particularly when your husband was jumping from one political appointment to the next. And that was the key to real estate, wasn’t it? Location, location, location.

Jones was sitting in the front office, taking phone messages, answering email, and watching CNN out the corner of his eye.

“What’s happening?” Christina asked, flinging her briefcase up on the counter. “What’s new in our world?”

“Nothing unexpected. Just me managing the office all by myself. As usual.”

Jones was a fabulous office manager, so the martyr streak was something she and Ben had learned to ignore. “Gosh, sorry. What am I, two minutes late? Excusez-moi!”

“I thought you were coming in at eight now.”

“Did I say that? Well, I thought better of it.”

“You’ve got about a zillion calls from someone at LexiCo. Are they a client?”

“They are now,” she said proudly.

“Great. More work. When is Ben coming back?”

“Not anytime soon, I’m afraid. Fear not, Jones. We’ll survive.”

“Yeah. But I miss seeing the Boss.”

She didn’t bother to ask why she wasn’t the boss now. She knew that for Jones, there was only one Boss, and it wasn’t her-and it wasn’t Bruce Springsteen, either. “I’m sure he’ll drop by from time to time. But he’s very busy. Such a big shot. Working for the president.”

“Yeah, yeah. Very impressive.”

For a moment Christina was afraid he was going to cry. She would have to make sure Ben came by for a visit. “Anything else going on?”

“You’ve got three youngsters wanting to interview for the associate position.”

“Swell.”

“You didn’t tell me we were hiring another associate.”

Christina sighed. “Jones, we’re-”

“As the financial comptroller of this outfit, shouldn’t I have been consulted? So you could determine if we can afford a new associate.”

“This LexiCo work should pay for an associate’s salary and then some.”

He sniffed. “Let’s hope so.”

“Any phone messages?”

“Yes,” he said, lightening somewhat. “My wife got a job at the Library of Congress.”

“That’s wonderful. Paula will be able to stay with you here full-time. I’m glad. I don’t think a married couple should ever be separated for long.”

“Well, you know, we’ve been married awhile. We’re not as googlyeyed as you and Ben.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“I’m not. I have trouble keeping down my dinner when I’m around you two.”

She grinned. “Anything else? You know what I want to hear.”

“Sorry. No word from Loving.”

She frowned. Their longtime investigator Loving had taken a tough beating some time ago when he was tracking cesium smugglers during an investigation relating to one of Ben’s cases. He’d survived, but the trauma of the experience had hit him hard. He’d asked for some time off-an investigative sabbatical, so to speak-to relax, recover, and try to get his head together. No one had seen or heard from him since.

“If that changes, let me know immediately.”

“I will.”

“Anything I can do for you?” she asked.

He pressed his hand against his chest. “No, no, you just go on about your business. I’ll take care of all the logistics and payroll and everything else that’s difficult or-” His eyes darted to the television screen. “Wait a minute. What’s going on?”

Christina edged around the counter so she could see. The screen was displaying a stock picture of the White House.

“… don’t have the details, but we are told that the terrorist alert warning is at its highest and that there is a concern that we may be facing an imminent threat. Inside sources say that the president and everyone else in the White House have been evacuated to an undisclosed safe location. Repeated rumors are circulating that the White House itself may be in danger and…”

Christina stared at the screen, her face turning ashen. “Ben!”